


One and Done

by ThatMadHatter



Category: Marvel
Genre: Ficlet, ICC, M/M, Prompt Fic, SHIELD, Second Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 15:18:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12061662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatMadHatter/pseuds/ThatMadHatter
Summary: Written as part of a prompt for Imagine Clint Coulson on Tumblr. The prompt was "imagine their second kiss"





	One and Done

“Goddamnit, Clint.” Coulson threw his door to his office open, scaring a junior agent a few feet away. He ignored the terrified yelp and stalked down the hall, a virtual trail of hot anger following him.

Seventeen days since Clint had kissed him. Just before hopping on a jet, the archer had snagged Coulson by the tie, pulled him behind a closed door and kissed him like his life was dependent on it. Phil Coulson was not surprised by many things, but finding Clint Barton’s tongue in his mouth just before the archer left for a mission was a first.

And then Clint left. Without a word. Nothing to suggest why he had done it or if there would be a repeat performance. Phil had waited a full two days before attempting to find out the mission Clint was being sent on. Clint was sporadically loaned out to other handlers or agencies when necessary. Officially Phil wasn’t told the details, but Fury typically let it slide when he dug into Clint’s files.

Which was why the full lock-out was odd. Then Phil was given a dozen trainees to put through their paces, which almost distracted him for a few days. He gave Fury a week before he went into the reception area outside his office and sat down.

Just sat. Patricia, the receptionist, told him that Fury wasn’t in today, and Phil continued to sit. He waited five hours until Maria Hill came in and told him to go home.

“Where is he?” Was all Phil said, not moving from his seat.

“Fury’s overseeing work at the carrier-“

“Not _him_.”

Maria might have been flapped by the venom in Phil’s voice, but she didn’t show it. “If you’re referring to an Agent Barton, you know you’re not cleared to know where he is.”

Phil stood. “I’ve never been denied information as to the location of my asset. I don’t need the details about what alphabet soup agency he’s been lent out to, but I do need to know where he is and when he’s returning.”

Maria stared him down for several long seconds. “I think you need to go on leave Agent Coulson. Take some time to distance yourself. Agent Barton is not an Agent of Coulson, he’s an Agent of SHIELD. At least two days Coulson.” She pivoted on her heel and strode out.

Phil allowed himself a long inhale and exhale,right-handd fisting at his side, before walking back to his office. There he found he had already been locked out of his computers. MANDATORY LEAVE flashed across his screen. He picked up his briefcase and walked out of the building. On his way home he called a burner phone and left a message.

It took Natasha six hours to call him. He was home, hacking his way into the FBI’s database to get their version of Clint’s file.

“What do you mean he’s missing?”

“I can’t find him. It’s been almost thirteen days since I saw him. Fury said he was being loaned out, but didn’t tell me where. By the time I checked his current assignments, I’d been locked out. No information.”

“What was he like before he left? If something was off with the assignment he would have known.”

Phil swallowed before speaking. “He kissed me.”

Natasha was silent for a moment. “I’m torn between wanting to hit you two and congratulate you.”

Phil sputtered. “Excuse me?”

“We’ll get to all that later. I’m on my way to you, should be there in thirteen hours. Maybe less. What agencies have you started looking into?”

*

A day and a half later Natasha and Phil were in one of his safe houses with nothing but a list of no’s. If Clint wasn’t being used by SHIELD, he was being used by an agency or individual they didn’t know about. Phil’s mandatory leave was almost up, and he was going back the way he had left, with absolutely no answers.

“It’s been over two weeks. He hasn’t been spotted by any of our contacts, he’s not being used by the FBI, CIA or any other American agencies. Where the hell is he?” Phil spoke to the ceiling, hoping it might give him some answers. He half-hoped to hear Clint’s voice in his ceiling like he would sometimes at SHIELD.

“Maybe we have to just wait.” Natasha said from her mountain of pillows. She had taken over the love seat and created a nest of pillows and blankets, surrounded by two laptops and at least three cell phones. “Trust Clint.” 

“How many times have you pulled him out of a dumpster?” Phil countered.

“He knew I would pull him out though. If he knew I wasn’t there he would get out on his own. Clint’s smart, he knows when he’s in over his head. One phone call and we would get him. Wherever SHIELD sent him they trusted him to get the job done.”

It was almost funny to hear Natasha talk about trusting SHIELD. Phil raised his eyebrows at her and she shrugged. “I’m not saying we stop looking, just that we try to trust that he will get back to us.”

So a few hours later, Coulson walked back into SHIELD. Maria assigned him a local milk run that kept him occupied and he waited. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long.

His phone pinged as he was sitting in his office, typing the report detailing the day before.

“Medical. ASAP. I’ll be there in 15 -N.”

Phil swore and was moving towards the elevator without even hitting save on his report. If Natasha was meeting him in medical something had gone seriously wrong. Every injury on Clint was going to be repaid double. Maybe triple when Black Widow got to them.

The door to Medical was already open when he got downstairs. Two doctors were standing expectantly and started doing a walk and talk as soon as they saw Coulson.“A few broken bones, mostly his ribs. Several deep cuts across his arms, bruising everywhere.” They walked him down the hall to a single room, where Clint was unconscious on a table. He hadn’t been moved to a proper bed yet, his arms were covered in cuts barely held together by butterfly bandages. A doctor was stitching the worst of them on his right side.

He looked like hell, a black eye having already swollen one eye shut, and his breath was ragged and wet. But he was alive. Phil took in the injuries quickly, cataloging them for examination later. First he set his hand gently on Clint’s head and let out a long breath. “What did you get into?” He whispered. Then he leaned forward and ghosted a kiss over Clint’s forehead. The doctors in the room didn’t say a word as he pulled up a chair to sit and wait for Clint to regain consciousness. 

**Author's Note:**

> *A/N - This was written as part of a prompt for Imagine Clint Coulson. Please be forgiving of errors and the shortness, I actually went slightly over the word limit. I think I want to expand it into a proper fic soon. Because don’t we all want to know where Clint went? ;)


End file.
